Cheneys start new national security group and slam Obama on Iraq
Cheneys start new national security group and slam Obama on Iraq
BY SEAN SULLIVAN June 18 at 10:45 AM
Former vice president Dick Cheney and daughter Liz Cheney on Wednesday announced the formation of a new group meant to offer a hawkish alternative to President Obama’s foreign policy and national security strategy.
In a video and a Wall Street Journal op-ed, the two offer a scathing critique of Obama’s policies across a range of fronts including Iraq, Afghanistan and Benghazi. Through their new group, “The Alliance for a Strong America,” they say they will educate the public about their views and where they think Obama has erred.
“The policies of the last six years have left America diminished and weakened,” Dick Cheney says in the video.
Dick and Liz Cheney claim Obama’s “abandonment of Iraq” and plan to do the same in Afghanistan has been problematic.
“Rarely has a U.S. president been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many,” the two write in the op-ed. “Too many times to count, Mr. Obama has told us he is ‘ending’ the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — as though wishing made it so. His rhetoric has now come crashing into reality. Watching the black-clad ISIS jihadists take territory once secured by American blood is final proof, if any were needed, that America’s enemies are not ‘decimated.’ They are emboldened and on the march.”
The new group will “educate about and advocate for the policies needed to restore American power and preeminence,” Liz Cheney says in the video. “We will provide information to citizens about national security and defense policy and ensure that these issues are a critical part of America’s national debate and discussion over the next two years and beyond.”
The hawkish Cheneys have long clashed with Obama on foreign policy. In 2009, Liz Cheney co-founded a group called Keep America Safe, a national security nonprofit with a similar aim to her new organization.
Last year, Liz Cheney launched a primary challenge against Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.). She later dropped her bid, citing family health issues.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) took to the Senate floor Wednesday to castigate the former vice president over his op-ed.
“Being on the wrong side of Dick Cheney is being on the right side of history,” Reid said.
washingtonpost.com
